Ruined
by TwistedFan13
Summary: Lacey is tired of being excluded from every secret between Jo and Danny, she's tired of the lies she feeds into from every person she's ever encountered. She's tired of the drama, and doesn't want to think anymore, or be the Lacey Porter everyone knows and claims to love. Ruined by lies and shattered dreams, she searches for a way to escape it all.
1. Isolated Variable

**Picks up after the dreadful season one finale. This is mainly a tale about Lacey's feelings and interactions since ABC Family decided to destroy her character with a pathetic attempt of making her a lesbian, and really cutting her out from a good portion of the show's main storyline. Ehem, I'm not bitter though lol. Enjoy.**

Mourning and distress filled the air along with confusion and resentment of a common but fallen enemy, Vikram Desai. The man took lives, he ruined them. There stood Charlie in arms of his newly discovered mother, who was also the mother of Jo Masterson. For five dreadful, menacing years, Charlie sought vengeance against the Desai family for killing the woman he once called mother. Even that was a lie; his life was a lie. Charlie dropped the knife which he held in his hand slowly and with caution. He had almost killed his sister. Everyone stood still in the abandoned old house, but Chief Masterson had yet to back down, his gun was pointed in Charlie's direction still. Jo was panting and breathless as she had just escaped death. She scurried to the corner of the room where she was met by the embrace of her friends Danny and Lacey. After one long, powerful reassuring hug between the three friends, who had endured so much disaster, Danny pulled Jo alone and hugged her amorously.

Lacey instinctively cut her eyes in their direction then bowed her head in embarrassment. Just a week ago, Danny had hugged her that way. She took in the scene of the entire room. Vikram Desai and his household of deceit, Tess Masterson who, along with Vikram, carried the secret that she bore a son eighteen years ago. Charlie stepped into the scene, not even a month ago and still he was more relevant in everyone's lives than Lacey. The whole situation, none of it concerned her. She had been isolated from the equation.

Lacey was the first to break the silence.

"I'm gonna- I think I'll go home now." She spoke softly as if to avoid disrupting the peace that dwelled among the two dysfunctional families.

"Do you want us to ride back with you?" Danny offered. "In case you get lost."

Lacey found it difficult to withhold a stream of tears that had already begun surface in the corners of her eyes. Everything in this town, every relationship, every person was bound by multiple lies.

"No, I think I just need to be alone."

She turned her back quickly away from the old abandoned building, away from the drama, cultivated by various persons' inability to elicit truth. She turned her back ultimately away from the two people she once loved the most, Jo and Danny.


	2. Chapter 2

This has a few flashbacks, I hope it's not confusing to read. I've italicized the flashbacks.

Alone at last - really she had always been alone - but Lacey was finally granted a moment to herself. No cunningly manipulative, two-faced liars to drag her into a spiral of depression and confusion. Really the thought was directed towards Whitney, who Lacey had been slowly falling for until it was revealed that Whitney was most likely a straight gal trying to play with Lacey's heart for whatever unknown, sinister intention she may have, but it could also be applied to Danny, who led her to believe he loved her only to take shots at her heart within such a close range.

_Was I really falling for a girl though?_

Lacey furrowed her brow at the thought. She never envisioned herself as one to question her sexuality. But she was not questioning her sexuality, even when she tried to thrust herself in Whitney's direction. She only wanted to feel something, anything except the pain Danny had put her through over and over again.

Lacey was itching to rid herself of this feeling of emptiness and heartbreak. She was never one to play the victim. In fact, she always dusted her shoulders off promptly in the midst of adversity. She made it an effort to be strong and that's why she was feeling so weak. All that empowerment and resilience she exuded before was a facade. Even though she'd overcome Danny's departure and the way he departed five years ago, with grace, she was broken both then and now.

Lacey reflected upon her life shortly after Danny allegedly killed his aunt.

"_Lacey, I had another dream last night, this time he-"_

"_Come on Jo, do we have to talk about that? We're supposed to be getting ready for Regina's slumber party." _

_Lacey was growing impatient with Jo, but she knew this was a tender time for them both. Danny killed someone. Their friend Danny, eleven years old and he actually killed a once living human being. Not just any person, his own aunt Tara. It was a tragic thing that happened. What was even worse was that they went inside to see the body. It was Lacey's idea to go inside, which she never yielded to regret. Lacey would never forget the pallid face of lifeless Tara Desai, lying on kitchen floor. She would never forget Danny's face which was boiling red. He seemed to be more disgusted with himself for what he'd done than the sight of his dead aunt._

_It had been nearly a year since then. Lacey's face grew warm. As if trying to live a normal life again wasn't difficult enough, with every word Jo spoke of the incident, Lacey remembered that day in clear and vivid picture. She inhaled deeply and shut her eyes tightly._

"_Jo would you shut up about it!" She yelled with more fury than she'd intended. "I'm trying to find my other slipper."She said more calmly._

"_Sorry." Jo contended defensively. "I hope you have fun at your stupid slumber party. I'll be lucky if I can even sleep ever again." She stormed off._

"_Jo wait I'm sor-" Jo got away but Lacey didn't go after her. It would probably best that way, she thought to herself._

Beeeeeep.

Lacey had been swerving into the other lane and semi truck nearly hit her. She hadn't realized that she wasn't paying attention to the road. She quickly swerved back into her lane. She hadn't slept in days. How could she? Between witnessing Jo's near death experience, trying to come to grip with her failed relationships with Danny and Whitney and the strain of life and high school in general, were all really getting to her. As she arrived to her destination, Lacey recalled the last time she felt her life in such disarray.

"_You just have to relax. Girl loosen up, we're at a party." Regina glanced at the sore sight of her pitiful friend. She sighed, I'm going to get you a drink. You need it. In the meantime, smile, you're still sexy." She winked._

_Lacey couldn't help but roll her eyes. She mustered up a half-smile despite herself as Regina walk in the direction of the punch bowl. _

"_Lacey Porter," she heard a male's voice. The smile quickly faded from her face. The last thing she needed was some sleaze ball trying to hit on her. She had enough going on with her parents divorce amongst other things._

_Lacey glared at the figure over shoulder, but pleased by the sight of her admirer, her demeanor changed. _

"_Oh, hi." She fidgeted with her hair. Archie Yates was the captain of the soccer team and a grade A hottie. Lacey was still relatively new to the higher social arena since it took some time to shake the stigma of being friends with child murderer. _

"_I uh, noticed you noticing me. So I just wanted to take note that I've noticed you too." _

_Lacey narrowed her eyes and smiled surprised and equally unimpressed by his corniness. "Wow, where'd you get that line?" She teased._

"_The back of a coke can." He joked. "No, but seriously. I've been wanting to talk to you for a while and I figured I give it a chance." He smiled flirtatiously._

_Lacey smiled too then she sighed. "I'm really not in the mood to talk, sorry." She could have kicked herself for turning him down. _

"_I can tell." He pointed out. "I uh, have noticed you, but that's not why I came over here."_

"_So why'd you come over here?"_

"_I don't know, you looked kind of sad. You're over here alone." _

"_I'm not alone, I came here with Regin-" Lacey looked in the direction of a girl who was now topless and dancing on top of the table in the living room surrounded by a swarm of fantasizing boys. _

_Archie chuckled, "You wanna get out of here?" He didn't wait for her to respond. He grabbed her by the arm and escorted her to his car. Archie took her the park that night. In his car he had a pound of weed that was supposed to be for the party. Lacey and Archie didn't talk much that night, not about her family or emotional problems anyway, but he was there with her. And in the high of the night blossomed the hope for a new life for Lacey, one that was careless and free from the drama that always seemed to weigh her down. _

…

Lacey knocked on the door for the third time. If there was no answer, she would retreat back to her car and go home. She knew this was not a bright idea to begin with. She started back toward her car when the door finally flung open.

"Lacey Porter," Archie said with a cocky smirk, "I always knew once you were done with your Socio fantasy, you would come running back to me."

"That's not why I'm here and you know it." She added defensively. Lacey spoke in a whisper, "Do you have what I asked for or not?"

"Of course. You know how much it is?"

Lacey pulled a wad of cash from her purse and grabbed her purchase from Archie's hand.

Archie hesitated to surrender the goods. He searched his ex girlfriend's pale face and blood-shot eyes. "It's for a party though, right?" He asked with suspicion.

"Um, yeah, big party." Lacey said quickly. She darted from the porch, unable to look back at Archie.


	3. Chapter 3

Oxycodone, methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, ketamine hydrochloride, marijuana, LSD, ecstasy, a hell of a combination. Lacey didn't even know how to pronounce half of the drugs she had just purchased let alone how to use them.

She just had stored so much on her mind that she did not want to think about, not just about Danny and Jo or her cunning woman crush Whitney, but for years Lacey had hoarded stress and worries, regret and insecurities. And fear. The menacing omnipotence of fear. Lacey was more of a coward than she would ever admit. She was cowardice because instead of acknowledging her woes, she treated them as if they never existed. She learned to just brush off her cares and flirt with adversity. There was no way she would allow anyone the satisfaction of seeing her in a point of weakness.

Lacey's eyes wandered over to the unopened bag of drugs which were dangling out of her purse tauntingly. She rolled her eyes and sighed. It was one thing to be doing drugs, but to be doing drugs alone on a Friday night? She wasn't some addict, she could never be. She just wanted to take the edge off. Plus, if she found someone to share with, she wouldn't be tempted to try them all.

Before she knew it, Lacey found herself at a party in sketchy part of town. Hardcore metal music was blaring from the speakers. Lacey was experiencing a bit of a culture shock as she watched the crowd. Everybody everywhere seemed to be in a daze as they mindlessly moved their bodies in rhythms, most of which didn't quite correspond with the beat. But nobody cared, they were free, unmoved by how their ridiculous movements might appear to onlookers, unaffected by a single worry or care. All that mattered was that moment, and the beat which blazed like the fiery sun giving them all new life.

A part of that sense of blissful liberation might have been attributed that ninety percent of everyone in there was high and the other ten percent were pretending to be.

Lacey wanted nothing more than to be a part of that, but suddenly aware of her newness to this, she awkwardly approached a guy and a girl who had been conversing amongst one another not far from the dance floor.

"So uh," she tried to play it cool, "do you guys do drugs?"

What she got in return was a pair of threatening glares.

"You don't ask people if they do drugs" the girl barked, looking repulsed by the accusation.

"Yeah, why? I mean just 'cause I'm black and she's emo-"

"I'm not emo," the girl remarked defensively.

"Right," he agreed condescendingly. "But seriously. Do we do drugs? The hell kind of question is that?"

The plausibly 6 foot 6, 300 pound guy with perfectly chiseled biceps got right in Lacey's face. Lacey saw her life flash before her eyes, but she was too stunned to speak. The boy's hard face then softened.

"Why do you have some?" He and the emo girl both laughed.

"Oh my, she is so terrified! Now that was a good one Rob,

Lacey allowed herself to exhale but she still did not utter a word.

"Effing princess." The girl eyed Lacey up and down. "What are you even doing in a place like this?"

"Shut it punk," her friend elbowed her in the side. "My name's Rob and this is Skylar," he paused, "she's emo."

"I'm not emo you jerk." Skylar rolled her eyes. "But seriously, powerpuff, what are you doing here?"

"I was just- ya know- I uh-" Lacey sighed. "I have no idea." She collapsed at the bar they had been standing near and buried her face in her palms. "I just want to forget." She mumbled beneath her breath unintentionally.

"Forget what?"

"Everything." Lacey responded hopelessly.

"Oh no, the pretty privileged girl from the Upper East Side is having daddy problems," Skylar taunted.

"Okay, who are you to judge me?" Lacey rose her voice angrily.

"Who are you to judge me first?" Skylar threw attitude right back.

"Skylar, learn to shut up for once! I'm sorry about her," he turned to Lacey. "Now what is it you want to forget? Did someone hurt you?" He searched Lacey's face with so much concern, a complete stranger and he already seemed to care more about her than her supposed friends and family.

"Yeah," she replied finally. "Quite a few people actually."

"Well that's...vague." He waited for Lacey to say more but she remained silent. "Look I don't know what you're going through, but I know that it's something you will never be able to forget, so you might as well try to forgive."

Lacey smiled through the tears that were already beginning to form, she wasn't used to experiencing genuine kindness. "That sounds awfully familiar," she spoke softly, "what you said about forgiveness. I heard that in a play once." She pulled herself back together, finally ready to open up. "It was by my friend Danny. He was trying to get me to forgive him for killing his aunt when we were eleven."

"Um, what?" Skylar's jaw dropped. "Now there's a story worth listening to. Was he a psychopath? Anti-social? Because at that age, people don't just, ya know, go around killing-"

"No, he didn't do it. For five years I thought he did, but he was only taking the fall for his father."

"And the plot thickens!" Skylar exclaimed, seeming entirely too amused.

"Sky, don't you have a thing to be getting to?" Rob motioned for her to leave.

"Oh no, it can wait," she sat down beside Lacey, anxious to hear what she had to say next.

"No," Rob shook his head, "I really think you should take care of that...like now."

"Ugh, friggin' ridiculous. Fine, I'm going." She rolled her eyes at him and walked off.

"Come on," Rob reached his hand out to Lacey who just stared at it as if it were a foreign object. "Let's get out of here," he insisted.

"Um, no offense to you or anything, but I just leave parties with strange men."

"Eh, this isn't much of a party anyway. What do you have to lose?"

_Um well there's that slight to moderate possibility that you may try to take advantage of me_, Lacey wanted to say, but she didn't.

"The only way to know whether or not you can trust someone is to trust them."

Slowly and reluctantly, Lacey grabbed ahold of his hand and the two made their way to the exit.


End file.
